2 Democrats, 1 Republican in 5th District race

In 2008, voters in the rural, exurban and suburban swath of East King County that makes up the 5th Legislative District chose Republican Glenn Anderson for the fourth time, but there were signs of reluctance.

His challenger for Position 2 in the state House, Democrat David Spring, raised $27,000 to Anderson's $90,000, but Anderson won by less than 4 percentage points.

Democrat Dean Willard saw an opening. Convinced the once solidly Republican district was growing more suburban and Democratic, Willard jumped into this year's race. Voters in the 5th District now have a choice of two Democrats and one Republican for the primary.

Spring is running an underdog campaign again, having raised just $2,000 so far, but Willard already has shown himself to be a potent rival, with significantly more endorsements than Spring and fundraising that has outpaced incumbent Anderson.

All three are battling to make it through the primary to the general election, with Spring and Willard targeting Anderson's conservative record and, occasionally, each other.

The two candidates for the 5th District's state House Position 1 — Republican Rep. Jay Rodne and Democrat Gregory Scott — automatically will advance to the general election.

But Anderson doesn't believe the district has changed all that much. If anything, the Republican says the district is getting more conservative. Anderson, who has raised nearly $40,000 so far this year, attributes the close race in 2008 to a tanking economy and an anti-incumbent political mood. Oddly enough, he also attributes his drop in numbers to growing his hair long for his 50th birthday.

Anderson's hair is cropped short again, and for this election cycle, he is counting on a fiscally conservative message combined with his experience grappling with a budget deficit. He believes it's time for the state to start using zero-base budgeting, which would require the state to balance the budget annually, as opposed to running deficits, but to do so without new taxes. He also wants the state to take steps to develop more private-sector jobs.

"The state is going bankrupt," he said. "To not clearly recognize that, acknowledge that, is not doing anybody a service. Sugarcoating it makes it worse."

Without drastic steps like the ones he is proposing, Washington soon will be like California, he said. California has an estimated budget shortfall of more than $26 billion, according to news reports.

Spring believes his populist message about eliminating corporate-tax breaks and improving the state's funding for public education will resonate again with voters who turned to him in 2008.

"They're making huge exceptions by voting for me," he said.

Spring calls Anderson part of the problem, and said the legislator has spent more time on tax breaks for major corporations than on funding public schools.

Spring viewed his last campaign as a forum to talk to people about what he believed was the state's lack of commitment to financing public schools based on his experience in the Snoqualmie Valley School District. His message this year is still based on getting the state to match the national average for school funding and a belief that both political parties are corrupt and give away too much money in corporate tax breaks to companies like Microsoft and Boeing.

Spring also supports Initiative 1098, which would establish a tax on adjusted gross income above $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for married couples, reduce the limit on statewide property taxes by 20 percent and increase the business-and-occupation-tax credit.

"If I don't win this year, I'll win two years from now," he said.

That leaves Willard, who believes the district is shifting. It may be fiscally conservative, he said, but it's getting more socially liberal than Anderson. More than half of the district supported a state law that expanded protections to same-sex partnership and domestic partnerships, Willard said, but Anderson voted against the bill.

"That's just an example of where Glenn is out of touch with where the district is today," Willard said.

He believes Spring tapped into angst in the district about Anderson and that a stronger Democratic candidate like himself could win.

Willard criticized Anderson's inability to help the state solve its fiscal crisis, though he said his own majority party has a lot of "opportunities for improvement."

Willard, who has a background in technology consulting, including with major consulting firm Accenture, and has raised $67,000 so far for his run, opposes a state income tax but advocates a value-added tax.

Value-added taxes are broad-based levies that collect taxes on a good from production to consumption. They are commonly used in Europe. Here, Willard said, they could bring more stability to the state's revenue picture.

He said he also wants to see the state come up with a tax system to develop a stronger business climate and to get more revenues from services while still supporting education.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com